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Tuesday, 21 December 2010

I've been lucky to get myself an IPhone 4. While there are some awesome things about the phone it is quite strange to be working for the first time with an Apple product.

I think this example is a good case in point.

I was trying to setup my Gmail on this Steve Jobs, keep it simple device. Went into settings, chose Gmail as my mail provider, entered my user name and password and whaalaa. All done, it downloaded my mail. However I never heard from my phone again (i.e. it never told me there was mail in my mailbox).

So I started Googling. I found an app called IGMail. Downloaded it, installed it, ran the setup and found I was in exactly the same position.Did more Googling! Found that I need to Pay for the push application!

Did more Googling!!Finally I found through Gmail Help that you actually need to set it up as a Microsoft Exchange Mail! Can you believe it! Must be that Google and Apple are not getting along well as they enter similar markets together.

For those of you suffering with the same problem do the following.Delete your old GMail account on your IPhone.Create a new Account, Choose MS ExchangeEmail Address: Your full GMail email AddressDomain: Leave Blank, Do Not put any info in hereUserName: Your full Gmail email AddressPassword: Your GMail PasswordThen click done at the top. It will say verifying for a few seconds. Then it will return to the previous screen with an extra field, "Server"Type m.google.comand click Done again.Congratulations! Problem solved! Immediate notifaction of email, Wooohooo! You have joined the world where you have to use Microsoft to get your Apple to work.

I'm looking again at improving my Chinese again. Having spent two years in China (the best way to improve your Chinese) I am now back in SA and have found that my Chinese has slipped drastically.
Chatting to the Chinese Take Away Cashiers just doesn't cut it.
I have considered going to a physical class here in JHB's China Town, but having spent a lot of time learning from a Beijinger I am loathe to spend a lot of time studying with a Tiawanese teacher, as most of them are here.
Therefore I revert back to a wonderful discovery I made about 3 years ago Chinese Podcasts... Back then it was Chinesepod.com that was so awesome. Unfortunately that ship has sailed and you now need to pay subscription fees to be able to access the content. (If you are willing and able then I HIGHLY recommend them, lots of awesome tools for you to learn the way you want to)
There are so many rubbish podcasts, audio snippets etc. out there to listen to, none of them carry the fun and interest that Chinesepod always made sure you could get.
I tried CRI English, IMandarinPod, Melnyck etc and all of them are not right for me.

However there now seems to be light at the end of the tunnel! Pop Up Chinese! Seems like lots of fun.
Maybe I will get the chance to let you know how it goes in future